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Javi Martínez
| cityofbirth = Estella | countryofbirth = Spain | dateofdeath = | cityofdeath = | countryofdeath = | height = | position = Defensive midfielder / Centre back | currentclub = Bayern Munich | clubnumber = 8 | youthyears = 1993–1995 1995–1997 1997–2000 2000 2001–2005 | youthclubs = Berceo Logroñés CD Arenas Izarra Osasuna | years = 2005–2006 2006–2012 2012– | clubs = Osasuna B Athletic Bilbao Bayern Munich | caps(goals) = 32 (3) 201 (22) 45 (3) | nationalyears = 2005 2006–2007 2007–2011 2012 2010– | nationalteam = Spain U17 Spain U19 Spain U21 Spain U23 Spain | nationalcaps(goals) = 5 (0) 5 (0) 24 (1) 4 (1) 18 (0) | manageryears = | managerclubs = }} Javier "Javi" Martínez Aginaga (born 2 September 1988) is a Spanish footballer who plays for FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, as a defensive midfielder or a central defender. He arrived at Athletic Bilbao in 2006 before his 18th birthday, quickly imposing himself as a starter and going on to appear in 251 official games over the course of six La Liga seasons, scoring 26 goals. A Spanish international since 2010, Martínez was a member of the squads that won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, and also played at the 2014 World Cup. Club career Athletic Bilbao Martínez was born in Estella-Lizarra, Navarre. Athletic de Bilbao signed him as a raw 17-year-old for €6 million in the summer of 2006, from fellow La Liga team CA Osasuna, despite him never having played a game with the first team. Martínez soon became a regular in the side in his debut season with powerful displays, his highlight being scoring twice against Deportivo de La Coruña in a 2–0 away success on 16 December 2006. He finished the campaign with 35 games and three goals, and again was everpresent in the following two, helping Athletic to the Copa del Rey final in 2009. In 2009–10 Martínez was the midfield engine of the team once more – 46 official matches, nine goals – and netted a career-best six times in the league campaign as Athletic narrowly missed on another UEFA Europa League qualification. In the 2011–12 season, under new manager Marcelo Bielsa, he began being regularly used as a central defender. Bayern Munich On 29 August 2012, after FC Bayern Munich paid the buyout clause of €40 million in his contract, Martínez signed a five-year contract with the German club. He thus became the transfer record in the 50-year history of the Bundesliga. Martínez made his official debut on 2 September – the day of his 24th birthday – coming on as a 77th minute substitute for Bastian Schweinsteiger in a 6–1 home win over VfB Stuttgart. He scored his first goal for his new club against Hannover 96 on 24 November, netting the opener in an eventual 5–0 home triumph through a bicycle kick. Martínez scored his second goal for Bayern in their 6–1 demolition of SV Werder Bremen on 23 February 2013, heading home from an Arjen Robben free-kick to make the score 2–0 after thirty minutes. Following the team's impressive 4–0 victory over FC Barcelona in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final clash on 23 April, he was lauded by many pundits for his all-around display and was credited as the key man in breaking up the tiki-taka football of national teammates Xavi and Andrés Iniesta; in the final game of his first season, he netted the first goal as the club came back from 0–2 and 1–3 down to win it 4–3 at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Martínez started the 2013–14 campaign on the substitutes bench, under new manager Pep Guardiola. On 30 August 2013, in that year's UEFA Super Cup, he took the pitch early into the second half of the match against Chelsea, and scored the 2–2 equalizer in the last minute of extra time, as the Bavarians went on to win the trophy in Prague after a penalty shootout. International career At the age of 19 Martínez began appearing for Spain's U21, representing the nation at the 2009 UEFA European Football Championships in Sweden, in a group stage exit. On 20 May 2010, he was named in the senior side's list of 23 for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, by manager Vicente del Bosque. On the 29th he made his full debut, replacing FC Barcelona's Xavi in the 81st minute of a 3–2 friendly win against Saudi Arabia, in Innsbruck, Austria; on 3 June he started in another friendly, with South Korea (1–0 triumph, in the same venue), playing 80 minutes until David Silva took his place. Martínez played once in the final stages, replacing the injured Xabi Alonso for the final 20 minutes of the group stage 2–1 win against Chile on 25 June, as Spain emerged victorious in the tournament. He returned to the under-21 setup for the 2011 European Championships in Denmark, captaining the national team to its third title in the category. Martínez also appeared in one game at UEFA Euro 2012 for the eventual champions, again substituting Alonso midway through the second half, this time against the Republic of Ireland in the group stage (4–0 success). He was described by Del Bosque as "a complete player", with the manager comparing him to Patrick Vieira. Martínez was named in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 World Cup, as well as the final 23-man squad for the tournament. He made his tournament debut in the second group game, starting against Chile in the Maracanã in place of Gerard Piqué; Spain lost 2–0 and were eliminated. Honours Club ;Athletic Bilbao *UEFA Europa League Runner-up: 2011–12 *Copa del Rey Runner-up: 2008–09, 2011–12 *Supercopa de España Runner-up: 2009 ;Bayern Munich *Bundesliga: 2012–13, 2013–14 *DFB-Pokal: 2012–13, 2013–14 *UEFA Champions League: 2012–13 *UEFA Super Cup: 2013 *FIFA Club World Cup: 2013 Country ;Spain *FIFA World Cup: 2010 *UEFA European Championship: 2012 *FIFA Confederations Cup: Runner-up 2013 ;Spain U21 *UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2011 ;Spain U19 *UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2007 Individual *La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: 2010 *2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament Career statistics Club International Personal life Martínez's older brother, Álvaro, is also a footballer, in the defender position. Having played mainly in the lower leagues, he had a brief spell in the second division with SD Eibar. External links *Bayern official profile *Athletic Bilbao profile *BDFutbol profile *National team data * * *2010 FIFA World Cup profile * Category:Midfielders Category:Players Category:Spanish players Category:Living people Category:1988 births Category:2014 FIFA World Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players